I Can't Hear You. I'm In The Other Room

Does anyone else have this happen? I'm chatting away to the hubs, and something pops into his brain in the middle of what I'm saying. He wanders off into the next room. I continue talking. By the time he is in the other room, it sounds something like this:

Me: "So, I think it's a good idea if we set up for Thursday early since we'll both be home late, and that will ….." Him: Now, having moved into another room in the house, "WHAT? What did you say? I can't even hear you". Me: "Well, that is because you walked away in the middle of what I was saying ." Him: (Now coming back into the room with me) "OH, I just was thinking I needed to check how many pencils we had for Thursday. What did you say?" Me: (Slightly irritated at having to repeat myself, when I was speaking the entire time and in my opinion, the pencils could've waited.) "I was saying about Thursday if we…."

Is this just us? This is a regular occurrence in our home. Sometimes I am the person talking, and sometimes I am the person walking. Something said will trigger a thought, and there I go, chasing squirrels. But sometimes, the conversation, while necessary, can be uncomfortable. In those cases, sometimes the distance between rooms is intentional. If you feel vulnerable or uncomfortable, physical separation helps you avoid what you perceive as negative. (Where are my avoiders? Am I talking to you?)

The last time this happened to us, it occurred to me we do the same thing to God. We are happy to stand "in the room" with him when we pour our hearts out in prayer.

We want to be close because we want him to hear our problems, concerns, and requests. We want to ensure that God hears us, so we approach him and stand nearby. We may play worship music, tell God how much we love him, and then make our requests known. (There's nothing wrong with this. God has been clear in his word that he wants us to approach him with our requests)

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'Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 'Philippians 4:5-6

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This is great. God wants us to pray to him; we have needs and don't want to worry, so we share. But as with any relationship, this communication isn't one-sided. We can pour out our hearts to God, but we should also have full expectation that he will, in turn, want to communicate back to us. And, well, he's God, so he does. God meets and communicates with us in ways specific to who we are. The Bible is clear that as people who have accepted Christ, we "hear" his voice just as he hears ours.

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"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." John 10:27 NLT

"I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy." Psalms 116:1 NLT

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Here's the thing, sometimes, we choose to move into the "other room" away from God when we don't want to hear what his voice is saying. We are praying for our spouse that they realize they need more grace when dealing with the children. Instead, we get the impression from God that WE need to be the one who extends more grace to our spouse. Ooof! That one stung a bit. How about this, we've had a horrible day at work, and we come home, irritated and out of frustration, and end up being rather rude to our spouse. You say to the Lord, "God, why can't they just let me have 30 minutes to myself when I get home!!!!" Then, the Lord impresses upon you that you're operating out of order. Yikes... again, not really the way you expected that to go. Then, you get a call or an email from your home church, "We are looking for volunteers for next Sunday. Would you be available to help?" We make an excuse and quickly hang up. Then the Lord impresses upon you that perhaps lying wasn't the best approach there. In fact, you do have time next Sunday.

We casually stroll into the other room. What? What'd you say? I can't quite hear you. Lord, why aren't you speaking more clearly? (I'm chuckling as I write this because I'm telling on myself.)

The reality is God is omnipresent. So, just like a child who plays hide-and-seek while standing in the middle of the room, with their hands over their face saying, "You can't see me ." It doesn't matter how far away we move; GOD IS STILL WITH US. He is very aware when you choose not to listen to him, and because his grace and mercy are new every day, he continues speaking. Even when we are in the other room. By the way, unlike me, God doesn't get irritated when he has to repeat himself. He loves us enough to keep speaking, even when we choose not to listen.

Hey friends, maybe this week we can do better? Perhaps we can say, "Lord, what is it about ME that you want to say? I will stand in the room with you and listen." Then, after we hear from him, how about we actually do what he says? Be patient with the kids. Don't take out my rotten day on my spouse. Give my yes when I'm asked to fill the need on Sunday. It's within our ability. We need to be intentional about it.

This week, the Butlers are choosing to stay in the room. We pray you decide to do the same. As always, friends, be well-fed. Until next time.

John & Stephanie